Improvement in brick-kilns



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KINGSBURY, OF GREENVILLE, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK-KILNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 207,875, datedSeptember 10, 187 8 application filed June 14, 1878. v

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN KINGsBURY, of Greenville, in the county ofButler and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Brick-Kilns; and I do hereby declare that the followingis -a full,

kiln embodying the improvements of my invention. Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view of the kiln taken through the center of the kiln. Fig. 3is a vertical sectional view of the kiln taken a little back of thecenter, and Fig. 4 is an exterior View of the kiln.

In the brick-kiln as ordinarily constructed it is necessary to buildarches for fire-boxes, thus wasting a large percentum of the bricks bybringing them in direct contact with or too near the fire. Besides thearches are quite numerous, and require the attention of several personsduring the operation of burning the kiln; and, further, when the brickshave been burned they are not uniform in color, strength, or soundness.To obviate these defects and to produce bricks of uniform color,strength, and soundness at a far less expense than has heretofore beendone are the objects of my invention; and to these ends it consists inthe improvements in the construction of the kiln hereinafter fullydescribed,and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings similar letters of reference indicate likeparts in the invention.

The outer wall, A, is twelve inches in thickness, is of brick, andinclines, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The inner, A, is of the samethickness, and is vertical. The intervening space between said walls Aand A is filled with earth. The kiln is circular in form, and its baseis underground, the floor being on a line with the bottom of the spacebetween the walls A and A. Four fire-boxes, B, ninety degrees apart attheir entrances, have flues E extending inwardly to within about two feeof the center of the kiln.

A flue, D, in the form of the arc of a circle, leads from the left sideof each fire-box B and extends to but does not connect with the adjacentfire-box B on its left.

The flues E have openings at, and the flues D have openings 0, leadingup through the floor of the kiln. In the rear of the fire-boxes B aredampers O, which, when closed, throw the heat into the flues D, andcause it to enter the kiln through the openings 0, and when open causethe heat to penetrate to nearly the center of the kiln and enter itthrough the openings at.

Any one of the dampers may be closed and the others left open, so thatthe heat may be directed to any desired part of the kiln, as will bereadily seen.

It needs but one man to attend to the burnin g of a kiln thusconstructed when it contains as many as one hundred thousand bricks; andif the bricks are properly set inthe kiln they will be of uniform color,strength, and soundness. N 0 cold air can enter the kiln, because theash-pits F, fire-boxes B, and flues D and E are all underground, and theair must necessarily become heated before it can enter tfzlhe kilnthrough the openings to and c in the oor.

Having thus described my invention, what- I claim as new and useful, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a brick-kiln,the combination of a series of segmental flues andradial flues, arranged in pairs, each segmental flue being adapted to bethrown into connection with its radial flue by operating a damper, (I,to close the radial flue beyond its junction with said segmental flue,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A circular brick-kiln having walls A A, provided with an interveningspace filled with earth, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JOHN KINGSBURY.

I WVitnesses:

R. Y. PORTER, J H. FLoUERs.

